Childrens’ centre threatened – despite glowing OFSTED

FOLLOWING the news that Oxfordshire County Council is reviewing the provision of Childrens’ Centres across the County with a view to cost cutting, the Red Kites Childrens’ Centre in Thame could be under threat – even though it recently passed an OFSTED inspection with flying colours and awarded ‘Very Good’ status.

Reporting to the town council’s Community, Leisure and Recreation Committee, Cllr Mary Stiles, who is a Trustee of the Red Kites Childrens Centre, said that hardship was being felt by some parents because the wait to receive benefits for first time users is now six weeks. However, The Sharing Life Trust and the Thame Food Bank is helping these parents with cookery classes and provisions.

One of the proposals put forward by the County Council is to amalgamate provision for 0 – 19 year-olds in ‘hubs’, to save £5 million, providing a service for only the most serious cases of need, instead of offering a universal service, which Cllr Stiles said: “….helps prevent problems down the track.”

THE FUTURE  FOR THAME’S CENTRE

The county council is meeting with its partners over the summer to come up with three possible models for the future which would then go out for consultation, but it has emphasized that any provision will only be made for extreme cases. A double blow for Thame is that if the Thame centre’s building is closed, it would have to be sold and the money that the government gave to set it up originally, would go back to the government.

Cllr stiles also reported that the administration of local Health Visitors is changing from Buckinghamshire to Oxfordshire and that the transfer of data could take some time as it had to be done by hand because the two computer systems are not compatible.

A CENTRE RUN BY VOLUNTEERS?

A meeting is planned for October to finally decide the future of Children’s Centre which would be attended by a representative of Thame Town Council. In the meantime, parents attending the centre are being encouraged to take part in a course to become volunteers at the centre, and the first two will be fully qualified by September. The training of volunteers, suggested Cllr Stiles, was a good preparation for the work place for parents, as well as being good for the centre.

Cllr Chamken Woods, the Chair of the CLR committee, thanked Cllr Stiles for her report adding: “I am very worried that we may lose this superb service.” Cllr Stiles replied that she was hopeful that a way could be found for the Red Kites Centre to remain open in some form, perhaps run completely by volunteers, like some libraries in the county are now.